Verification of tow cut for automatic fiber placement

摘要

The operation of tow cutters in an automatic fiber placement machine (20) are monitored to determine if inconsistencies in fiber placement are related to cutter operation. A machine vision system (39) detects inconsistencies in tow placement, and timing signals are generated that represent the actuation of the cutters. The timing signals are correlated with recorded images of the placed tows to determine if the inconsistency in tow placement are related to cutter operation.